The current system for determining a national champion in NCAA Division I college football is based solely on two polls, a coaches' poll and a writers' poll. These polls, while useful for general rankings of teams, have proven to be inconsistent and controversial in attempting to select a national champion. In fact, Division 1A football is the only sport in any of the 80 divisions of the NCAA which does not have a championship tournament.
While critics of the current bowl system for post-season play have provided numerous reasons for change to a playoff system, some of the major factors include the following. First, because the top two ranked teams do not necessarily compete with one another in a bowl game, there are frequent disputes as to the true national champion for two teams with identical wins/loss records. The importance of a particular bowl game can vary greatly depending upon the two teams which are chosen to play in the game, as well as the particular day on which the game is played. For the same reason, attendance at many bowl games has decreased. Finally, smaller schools and conferences may not be fairly represented in the current post-season and structure.